Echelon Consulting worked with the Board and senior executives of a new Government Agency to develop a suite of bespoke board competencies and behaviours. These formed the basis for future recruitment of board members, a review of individual board members and the whole board.

The competencies needed to align with several imperatives including the principles of public life, corporate governance codes, key stakeholders and the organisation's own vision and key objectives.

As a non-executive board a clear distinction between board responsibilities for developing strategy and the accountability of the executive for developing policy was required. A set of board assurance tools helped to focus the board on its strategic role in holding the executive to account for policy development.

With a supporting programme of coaching and workshops the agency has developed a robust process for leading on a complex agenda.